Ebony wood netsuke

Superbly carved from lustrous ebony, depicting the climactic scene from the legend of Anchin and Kiyohime. Transformed by jealousy and rage into a serpentine monster, Kiyohime coils tightly around the great temple bell of Dojoji, beneath which the fleeing priest Anchin has sought refuge.

Her sinuous, dragon-like body wraps dynamically around the bell, the composition cleverly exploiting its compact, rounded form. The bell itself is finely worked with raised borders and richly textured panels, one side pierced with an aperture revealing the doomed Anchin within. The ingenious revolving mechanism transforms the netsuke into a miniature narrative in three stages. The handle of the bell can be rotated to turn an internal inset, successively revealing three faces of Anchin through the aperture: first unharmed, rendered in white; then engulfed by the heat of Kiyohime’s flames, rendered in red; and finally blackened and charred.

Kiyohime herself is carved with exceptional vigor, her fierce visage framed by flowing hair and detailed with sharply incised horns, glaring eyes inlaid in reddish horn, teeth, and claws, while the finely worked scales of her serpentine body contrast beautifully with the polished ebony of the bell.